Countess from Hong Kong, A (1967)

A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), written, produced, scored and directed by Charlie Chaplin.

A slack, low-energy romantic comedy, reminiscent of a stage play farce. Weak physical comedy. I review it because:

Patrick Cargill steals the show as Hudson the valet. I remember him from The Magic Christian (1969) and two episodes of The Prisoner (1967).

Extra irritating: the lighting. It is perfectly uniform and perfectly boring.

Chaplin wrote the first draft in the 1930s. It was inspired by displaced people he knew.

It has fans. According to the wikipedia article:

quote

Critics such as Tim Hunter and Andrew Sarris, as well as the poet John Betjeman and the director François Truffaut viewed the film as being among Chaplin's best works. Actor Jack Nicholson is also a big fan of the film.

Available on DVD.

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